Silurian fossil unearthed at Dudley Zoo

KEEPERS at Dudley Zoological Gardens have unearthed a 420million-year-old fossil near the hunting dogs enclosure.

The large piece of Wenlock Limestone has now been donated to the Discovery Centre for presenters to use in their education workshops.

Dudley Zoo Presenter Langan Turner, pictured, said: "The fossil is very impressive and clearly shows a piece of reef building coral on top, which tells us it would have grown in clear, tropical waters.

"This would date back to the Silurian period, so is probably around 420 million-years-old.

"Dudley is known world wide for the quality of these fossils and we're lucky to have found similar fossils across the zoo site, but this one is beautifully clear and tells us much more about the environment than any others we have, so we're very grateful that it was noticed and picked up." The Zoo's Presenters will be using the newly found fossil in forthcoming evolution and prehistoric life school workshops.